Genetics in primary care: a USA faculty development initiative

The Genetics in Primary Care (GPC) project is a USA national faculty development initiative with the goal of enhancing the training of medical students and primary care residents by developing primary care faculty expertise in genetics. Educational strategies were developed for the project by an executive committee with input from an advisory committee, comprising individuals with primary care, medical education and genetics expertise. These committees identified the key issues in genetics education for primary care as (1) considering inherited disease in the differential diagnosis of common disorders; (2) using appropriate counseling strategies for genetic testing and diagnosis, and (3) understanding the implications of a genetic diagnosis for family members. The group emphasized the importance of a primary care perspective, which suggests that the clinical utility of genetic information is greatest when it has the potential to improve health outcomes. The group also noted that clinical practice already incorporates the use of family history information, providing a basis for discussing the application of genetic concepts in primary care. Genetics and primary care experts agreed that educational efforts will be most successful if they are integrated into existing primary care teaching programs, and use a case-based teaching format that incorporates both clinical and social dimensions of genetic disorders. Three core clinical skills were identified: (1) interpreting family history; (2) recognizing the variable clinical utility of genetic information, and (3) acquiring cultural competency. Three areas of potential controversy were identified as well: (1) the role of nondirective counseling versus shared decision-making in discussions of genetic testing; (2) the intrinsic value of genetic information when it does not influence health outcomes, and (3) indications for a genetics referral. The project provides an opportunity for ongoing discussion about these important issues.     

Switching preconditioners using a hybrid approach for linear systems arising from interior point methods for linear programming

Numerical Algorithms - In general, interior point methods are successful in solving large-scale linear programming problems. Their effectiveness is determined by how fast they calculate each...     

Radical additions to 1,2-dichlorodifluoroethene

Fluorine containing alcohols, esters and ethers have been obtained by peroxide induced radical addition of alcohols, esters and ethers to 1,2-dichlorodifluoroethene.The influence of the kind and amount of the peroxide has been studied and the reactivity of alcohols, esters and ethers compared.     

Dissipative terms of thermal nature in the theory of an ideal monoatomic superfluid

A dissipative model of helium II was built up in previous works, using a 13-field extended thermodynamic theory formulated by Liu and Müller. In this work a generalization of such model is presented, where an extended thermodynamics with 14 fields due to Kremer is used. It is shown that the fourteenth field is able to account for the experimental data concerning the second sound attenuation. Further, the proposed theory is able to explain the Osborne experiment. Finally, a comparison with the two-fluid model is performed, emphasizing the different ways in which the dissipative phenomena are explained by the two theories.     

On trifactorized soluble minimax groups

This research was done while the last two authors were visitors at the University of Mainz. They are grateful to the Department of Mathematics for its excellent hospitality.     

Applications of ESCA to polymer chemistry. IV. The composition and structure of copolymers of ethylene with tetrafluoroethylene

Molecular core binding energies have been measured by ESCA for a series of copolymers of tetrafluoroethylene and ethylene. Detailed analysis of the results demonstrates the utility of ESCA for determination of copolymer compositions and for providing information on important structural features for these copolymers.